1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of container closures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bottle containers in which various drinks are sold, are sealed by metal caps including flutes formed in the depending skirt of the cap to secure the cap to the container. These caps may be removed by a pry-off bottle opener. In many cases, a bottle opener is not available and thus, the container may not be readily opened. In order to alleviate this problem, closures have been provided which screw on to the container. The screw on type closures require threaded container necks and are more costly as compared to the traditional pry-off closure.
In my co-pending patent application Ser. No. 531,627, filed Dec. 11, 1974, now Pat. No. 3,931,904, there is disclosed a tear off closure which is mountable to the traditional bottle container without requiring external threads on the neck of the container. The closure is provided with a pull ring which may be pulled upwardly thereby tearing the closure facilitating the removal of the closure from the container. The closure is not provided with the flutes in accordance with the conventional design but instead includes a skirt portion constricted beneath the annular bead of the container mouth. By pivoting the pull ring the closure is torn across the mouth of the container. To facilitate the tearing, the closure is produced from a material such as aluminum.
Many closures are produced from a relatively strong material such as steel. The stronger type closures resist tearing and as a result, it is desirable to provide a closure having a pull ring which does not require tearing of the closure or skirt material. Disclosed herein is such a closure which includes a plurality of flutes securing the closure to the container neck with a pull ring provided which expands at least some of the flutes upon the pivoting of the pull ring thereby allowing for the removal of the closure.